Problems of Forensic Sciences 2011 Vol. 85 (LXXXV) 40-49
DISTORTIONS IN EYEWITNESS MEMORY – MEMORY AND NON-MEMORY MECHANISMS
Malwina SZPITALAK, Romuald POLCZYK
Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Streszczenie
The main aim of the research presented in this article was to verify how many subjects among those who succumbed to misinformation were aware of the discrepancies between the original event and the misinformation. The presence of such subjects supports the hypothesis that the mechanisms of the misinformation effect may be non-memorial in their nature. This hypothesis was confirmed as about 20% to 68% of subjects succumbing to misinformation were aware of the discrepancies. We also found that misinformation in the form of planting new details was more efficient than misinformation in the form of changing existing memories. The results are discussed from the perspective of applied forensic psychology.
Słowa kluczowe
Misinformation effect; Memory; Eyewitness testimony; Memory distortions.